When you write an article there are many applications for your carefully constructed article. Don’t miss out on getting the last drop of value from everything you write.
Let’s blow some misconceptions away first.
An article has to be quite long
You don’t need to write 1000 words for a piece to be considered an article or a blog. I’ve seen blogs as short as 70 words! Aim at around 300 words for starters. If you find you have more things to say then carry on until you’ve said what you have to say.
You need to be a great writer
You should write correct English and use good grammar and punctuation – but that’s what the spell, grammar, punctuation checkers are for! If you can talk about your subject, you can write about it.
You need to use formal language
The more formal your language the less energy your article will have. Correct grammar doesn’t mean boring! Aim to write more like you speak than the way your English teacher dictated. Read your work aloud – you’ll soon find what works and what doesn’t.
OK so you’ve got 300 words – now what?
- Post it on your blog
- Add it as an article on any social media profiles where you’re active (LinkedIn is the obvious one, but it could be a long post on your Facebook Page).
- Take quotes out of it and use them as social media posts – linked to your blog post.
- Save it up and maybe put it with other articles you’ll write to create an ebook. You can give this away as an addition to any written proposals that go to clients or as a thank-you for new clients or you could use it as a lead magnet.
- Look at the journals and industry publications that your clients read, would they be interested in it as an article? (You will need to edit it a bit and rewrite it so it’s not a carbon copy of your blog, but that shouldn’t take too long.)
- Break it up and use it as an email campaign.
- Use it as the lead item in your newsletter.
One small article can go a long, long way. So that time you spent writing your 300 or so words will keep on marketing your business in all kinds of ways!
